India test fires long-range surface-to-air missile: reports

The report quoted a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official saying, the long-range missile, a product of a joint venture between India and Israel, was test launched from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur near here at around 10.13 hours.

The trial was successful and some more rounds of the test are expected to be conducted shortly, the DRDO scientist added.

“Apart from the missile, the system includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile,” the official said.

Earlier, between June 30 and July 1, 2016, three consecutive test firing of the medium range surface to air missile, jointly developed by India and Israel were conducted from the DRDO base at Chandipur.

India test fired its newest surface-to-air missile, certainly in a bid to galvanise its air defence capabilities, at a time when air between India and its nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan was also already tensed following a deadly raid on an Indian army base in held Kashmir last Sunday, which fuelled tensions in the region.

A day after the assault – as per earlier Indian media reports – India was weighing its response to the raid that killed 17 soldiers, as some politicians were calling for military action after the worst attack of its kind in over a decade.

New Delhi has claimed that Pakistan was behind Sunday’s attack, raising the prospect of a military escalation in the already tense disputed Himalayan region.

In reply to the threats apparently coming from the Indian government, Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staffs (COAS) said on Monday that the country was fully prepared and monitoring the situation in the region.

“We are fully cognizant and closely watching the latest happenings in the region and their impact on the security of Pakistan,” said General Raheel Sharif on Monday while taking notice of a hostile narrative being propagated by India.